Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 22nd of December 2022

Case name: 2022_12_22-Eastern Med - 1091

Situation: 14 people pushed back after arrival on Samos

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Eastern Mediterranean / Aegean Sea

Summary of the Case:
On 22 December 2022, we were alerted by a group of 14 people who landed on Samos in the area of Agios Nikolaos. There were women and children in the group. They reported that a child fainted already and many people were in a bad health situation because of the cold.

At 8:55 CET, we alerted Greek authorities and several NGOs by email and reported about their need for medical assistance and for international protection. We also provided a list of names.

Until 11:12 CET, we were in constant contact with the people, who asked desperately for help. Afterwards the contact to them breaks.

In the evening, at 20:40 CET, we call the Turkish Coast Guard, because we fear this group might have been pushed back. The officer confirms that there had been a pushback of a group of 14 people - all Palestinian - from the north side of Samos to the Izmir region.

Later, the Turkish Coast Guard publishes on their website that on 22 December 2022 at 16:10 local time, it was reported to them that a group was drifting on a life raft off the coast of İzmir’s Seferihisar district. They report that the 14 people on the life raft had been pushed back to Turkish territorial waters “by Greek assets” and were rescued by the Turkish Coast Guard.

We could not manage to reestablish contact to the people and so we could not get any detailed testimonies about this incident.